NRL agrees two-year Blackbird production deal
Rebranded UK cloud video platform to cut live Australian rugby league highlights.
Posted: May 30 2019
By: Steven Impey
NRL agrees two-year Blackbird production deal
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The National Rugby League (NRL), Australian rugby league’s premier club competition, has become the latest sports property to sign up to UK-based cloud video highlights platform Blackbird.
The service has been brought on board by NRL’s Sydney-based operation for an initial two years to provide support by packaging short highlights during live NRL matches to be distributed to the league’s global fanbase.
“The NRL is one of the most exciting and competitive sports competitions in the world and we are delighted they have chosen to use Blackbird,” said Ian McDonough, Blackbird’s chief executive.
“Enabled by our unique, patented codec, the Blackbird platform will offer the NRL the speed and agility needed to clip, edit and publish highlights for fans in real-time, as the games are being aired live.”
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Blackbird is the company’s premium editing platform utilised by media rights holders and broadcasters, including sports organisations.
Due to its popularity, the London-based company, which was previously known as Forbidden Technologies, rebranded earlier this month. Its agreement with the NRL marks the first deal since its change of name to Blackbird.
Among its prominent partners, sports streaming service Deltatre utilises Blackbird’s software, which also formed part of a marketing agreement in January with US technology giant Microsoft.
In March, the company also signed an extension to its deal with IMG Media to package La Liga and Serie A highlights.
“The confidence of the NRL in our platform confirms Blackbird's growing strength in the global sports industry,” McDonough continued, “building on our relationships with major sports companies like MSG Networks, IMG, Peloton and Deltatre."
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